International students at New Hampshire’s colleges and universities can continue to take online classes during the COVID-19 pandemic this fall without being forced to leave the country.
On Tuesday, the Trump administration rescinded a rule that had been issued July 6 that would have required international students to transfer or leave the country if their schools held classes entirely online because of the pandemic.
“We were very pleased to learn U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement reversed its decision that would have prevented international students from online learning in the U.S. and limited our flexibility to plan for a variety of contingencies during the COVID-19 pandemic,” University of New Hampshire president James Dean said Thursday. “Our international students are important members of our community and the loss of the diversity they bring would have been significant.”
The announcement brings relief to colleges and universities here in New Hampshire that were scrambling to reassess their plans for the fall in light of the policy. With the policy rescinded, ICE will revert to a directive from March that suspended typical limits around online education for foreign students.
When the policy was announced at the beginning of the month, it drew sharp backlash from higher education institutions. More than 200 colleges and universities, including Dartmouth College, signing court briefs supporting the challenge by Harvard and MIT.
Additionally, members of New Hampshire’s congressional delegation, including Sens. Jeanne Shaheen and Maggie Hassan, and Reps. Chris Pappas and Annie Kuster, have spoken out strongly against the rule.
“Educating international students is a long and proud endeavor for U.S. higher education,” Michele Perkins, president of New England College, said Thursday. “With the help of the NH congressional delegation, I am pleased we were able to reverse this misguided directive and quickly get back to the work of education in the time of COVID-19.”
Schools have said the policy would put students’ safety at risk and hurt the institutions financially. Many schools rely on tuition from international students, and some stood to lose millions of dollars in revenue if the rule had taken hold.
In particular, Southern New Hampshire University is planning to hold classes completely online in the fall. The university enrolls over 450 international students from more than 70 countries, according to its website.
“We are thrilled that we can continue to keep students, staff, and faculty safe through remote learning this fall while still helping our international students continue on their path towards a degree,” the university wrote in a statement Thursday.
(The Associated Press contributed to this report).